"He was annoying.." Tim Paine spills beans on sledging Ravi Ashwin during Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2020-21

Ravi Ashwin missed the Gabba test during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2020-21.

The 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy stands as one of the most memorable test series of the last decade. The series saw India come back from 36 all out in the first test at Adelaide to clinch the series with a historic run chase in the fourth and last test of the series at the Gabba.

The third test of the series, played in Sydney is famous for sporting as well as non-sporting reasons. The New Year test saw the Indian team battle through injuries to secure a hard-fought draw. Ravi Ashwin and Hanuma Vihari were the stars of the show in the final innings, batting out 42 overs to draw the game.

The other reason that makes this test remarkable is the verbal war between former Australian captain Tim Paine and Indian spinner Ravi Ashwin. In the last session of this tense encounter, Paine famously taunted Ashwin telling him, “I can’t wait to get you to the Gabba, Ash, I’ll tell you what.”

Tim Paine reflects on his sledge at Ashwin

Reflecting on the heated Sydney test, Tim Paine recently shared that he has no regrets about sledging Ravi Ashwin, emphasizing that he wanted to break the focus of the Indian all-rounder.

In a recent episode of The Grade Cricketer podcast, Paine said, “No, I don’t because to this day Ashwin didn’t play in that (Brisbane) Test match, I wasn’t talking to the Indians, I was talking to him. I said we cannot wait to get you to the Gabba… because he was annoying us, fair to say. He is a fantastic cricketer. He was getting me out all the time, and that was annoying me as well.“

Tim Paine clarified that his words were only directed at Ravi Ashwin. The former Australian captain also jokingly said, that despite his bad performance in Brisbane, he showed up, unlike Ravi Ashwin who missed the Gabba test.

Paine said, “But no, that was purely directed straight at him and he pulled out of that Test match because of back spasm. Did I have a great game in that match? No, but I fronted up. Actually, day one of the Test match he (Ashwin) was jogging laps. Those back spasms couldn’t have been that bad.“

Australia will host India in the first test of the five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 from November 22.

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